>> live from berlin, this is the "journal" coming up on dw. >> the syrian army agrees to a temporary truce with rebel fighters, but will it hold? >> how much is too much? germany leads calls in europe to slow the influx of asylum seekers.% >> and championship league soccer, victories against favored international rivals. thanks for joining us. we start in syria where the

military has agreed to a cease- fire over the four-day muslim holiday. >> international peace envoy lackdar brahimi has held talks to mediated truce starting on friday. >> all the one rebel group has rejected the proposal, the united nations hopes it could create the basis for dialogue and a longer lasting peace agreement. >> it is a statement many had been hoping for. an announcement on state television -- declaration confirming a cease-fire is to take effect at midnight -- reads a declaration confirming a cease-fire is to take effect at midnight. smoke and the sounds of fighting visible across what appears to be damascus, but it is not possible to verify when or where the video was recorded. i and other syrian hot spots, fighting continued throughout

the day -- in other syrian hot spots. rebels in aleppo say they have taken control of several neighborhoods there. videos like these make scenes like this seem almost unreal. syrians risk a trip to the market for some last-minute holiday shopping. >> we are trying to forget the situation in the country and live a normal life. as you can see. >> if all goes well, syrians could enjoy four days of peace, but that is not certain. forces on both sides have reserved the right to respond to aggression. >> we heard in that report that there are doubts that the syrian regime will abide by the cease- fire. let's go to our middle east expert, a familiar face. what do you think? how likely is it that this truce will hold? >> and in truth, not very likely, but politically

speaking, it is an important step. for the first time since war broke out, it seems that a truce might be working for a couple of days. it is the first time the government and opposition forces have agreed on a surging compromise, so that's a good step. >> there's something about it that feels fake. i heard an analyst today say the cease-fire is happening only because of the muslim holiday. after the holiday is over, that we will see the fighting start right back. so what is the point? >> as i said, it is the first step in the right direction, and it is also due to russian and chinese pressure. both sides must make it clear to the syrian government they should abide by the truths -- truce proposed by the un special envoy to syria. in terms of policy, i think we see a dynamic evolving, but it is very superficial. >> what does the cease-fire say about brahimi's job so far?

he has only been in office for two months? >> he was lucky because they did put pressure on the syrian government, and at the same time, he understands syrian mentality. he is working on a step-by-step approach, rather than trying to find a global solution, which was the case with kofi and on -- with kofi annan, and he failed. >> we will see if a lesson lasts longer than this holiday. thank you for joining us. in mecca, the hajj is getting under way, and participating in the pilgrimages the religious highlight for many muslims. >> with the break of dawn, the pilgrims from around the world gathered to say there morning prayer. this is where the prophet mohammed is said to have given his last sermon. officials say more than 3 million muslims are performing the haj this year. >> in europe, the issue of

asylum seekers is once again at the top of the agenda. >> the interior ministers of the european union met on thursday to talk about what's many politic -- was so many politicians say is a major problem. the german interior minister is calling for much tighter rules in processing applications for asylum, most of which come from sinti and roma. >> this comes one day after chancellor merkel opened a holocaust memorial in berlin dedicated specifically to sinti and roma and pledged that her government would work to protect minorities in germany. >> living conditions like these have prompted thousands to apply for asylum in the eu, but because they do not face acute danger, germany and other countries say they want to stand the flow of migrants, if necessary, by reintroducing a visa requirement. >> nearly all member states have similar problems. sweden especially has also made it clear that it will lead to

insufficient asylum capacity for people who are actually being persecuted. >> the european commission wants to find a solution. the eu home affairs commissioner has announced a regional meeting in the balkans. >> we have discussed with the ministers how we can improve their fortune in order to get down those numbers of asylum seekers. >> in germany, it can take up to 14 months before objected -- rejected asylum seekers have to leave the country. >> in austria, we have a different system regarding the provision of basic needs, and i think that of course, that is a factor in germany being a kind of magnet because people looking to abuse these laws know they can get cash year. >> as the meeting concluded, one thing was clear -- things in germany have to change. >> our goal is to place

macedonia and serbia on the list of safe countries and combine that with a reduction in services for people who come from six countries. >> the meeting in luxembourg made it clear that a solution would have to address both eu nations and the countries that asylum seekers come from. >> for more, we spoke earlier to our brussels correspondent and ask what exactly germany was asking for and what, if anything, had been decided at% the meeting. >> the issue of growing concern is about sudden influx is, particularly during summertime, of illegal immigrants from the western balkans, very sensitive because the european commission and member states agreed to lift visa restrictions on a group of countries in western boffins in 2009 as a prelude to the enlargement of the european union to take in such countries at some time in the future, the european commission saying this

is a crucial prerequisite. not so for germany and other countries. germany has actually about 7000 illegal migrants, who say they want to impose these controls. the european union says no way, but it does agree there should be some kind of sick calls, meaning you could reinstate basic controls on a temporary basis when there is a high influx of illegal migrants, not genuine asylum seekers, but even then, the concern would have to apply to brussels for the permissions necessary to reimpose visas. it is not firmly agreed yet, but when it is, there will still be some bureaucracy to overcome before a country can reimpose those visas. there's no way germany or any of the other member states could bring down the shutters on the borders just when it wants to. >> onto some business news now. ford has announced plans to close two plants in britain and cut 1400 jobs.

>> that's right. meanwhile in belgium where another plant closure was announced yesterday, workers protested the loss of 4300 jobs. the company said it is moving production to spain to save money. ford expects losses in europe to exceed 1.2 billion euros this year. >> let's take a look at thursday's market numbers. after a promising start to the day, it fizzled out during the course of trading. in frankfurt, the dax finished the session pretty much flat. the euro stocks 50 down into negative territory before the closing bell -- the euro stoxx 50. across the atlantic, the dow jones trading also pretty much flat. the euro trading at a value of $1.2944. britain has emerged from its

double-dip recession. gdp grew by a surprising 1% between july and of timber, but the effect may be temporary. >> it was the strongest quarter in five years, but the olympic games and the queen's diamond jubilee are actually being credited with the boost in the economy. figures far exceeded analysts' expectations. well, did a german political party try to silence the media? allegations have emerged that members of chancellor merkel's governing coalition tried to suppress a television report about their main political rival. the broadcaster in question says it was a clear attempt to influence reporting, and it has already led to a key resignation in bavaria. >> the resignation came swiftly. the party move fast to avoid any collateral damage to the

bavarian premier. the controversy involves a phone call. editors say he tried to suppress the report, and he denies that. >> he told me he does not try to pressure them. zdf says he did. i cannot resolve what happened, and therefore, this step is necessary. >> journalists representatives are incensed at what they see as an attempt to silence the media. they are demanding a full disclosure. >> we want the csu to lay all their cards on the table and explain whether the spokesman acted on his own initiative. that would be bad enough, but if he was acting on orders from above, that would be much worse. family claims he was not told to make the call. the accusations come at a

sensitive time for the csu. it has governed bavaria for over 50 years and wants to keep it that way at next year's election. >> in german soccer, the coach of books for has resigned. bamut is is the decision to part ways was neutral. it was the second stint at the club he led to the title back in 2009, but things have been going from bad to worse this season. by purchasing high-price players, he is at the bottom of the bundesliga table now. the reserve team coach will take over until a permanent replacement is found. it was a night to remember for german teams in the champions league. dortmund taught the mighty real

madrid a thing or two about modern football. >> there were rewarded after 36 minutes. they gained the lead and two minutes later, the spanish side equalized, but they dominated again in the second half, and the defender scored the winner on 64 minutes. >> this was an incredible gain -- game from my team. a strange match. neither team was better, but it was an incredibly difficult game. we could not make the most of our chances up front. they were very organized and defended very well. >> the victory sent dortmund to the top of group d. in group b, a surprise 2-0 win at arsenal. a strong second-half eventually

bore fruit. >> when you win two away games and already have seven points from just three games, you have to be happy, but there's still a long way to go. >> it was a strong week for german sites in europe with three wins out of three. >> all right, a russian capsule has successfully docked with the international space station. on board were two russian cosmonauts and an american astronaut. the capsular arrived after a two-day voyage from its launch pad in kazakhstan. the russian american trio join three nasa astronauts who have been there since july. they will live in orbit until march of next year. along with the new crew members and food supplies, they also brought christmas presents for the astronauts. that is early. >> yes, you have to love

christmas presents early. >> they should have taken some halloween candy. we will be back with more treats in one minute. stay with us.

>> welcome back, everyone. it was a decade ago that chechen militants seized a moscow theater and held people hostage for more than three days. >> the crisis ended when russian special forces took the decision to try to free the hostages by launching a gas attack on the theater. 124 people died, including some of the attackers, but many hostages as well. >> one survivor talked to us about the nightmare she went through on that day. >> olga was 15 when she was taken hostage. she was one of hundreds held for three days by chechen terrorists. she was one of the lucky ones. she survived when the theater was stormed by russian special

forces. >> i heard something happening in the foyer, and i could smell something. i managed to put a damp cloth over my mouth and my nose. that is all i can remember. after that, i passed out because of the gas. >> this is the moment when the terrorist burst into the theater, taking 912 people hostage. their demand -- the withdrawal of the russian army from chechnya. the russian army's pumped in a toxic gas to knock out the attackers, but it also killed more than 100 of the hostages. 10 years later, russia is still battling islamist rebels in the north caucasus, who want to break away from moscow. there are fears terrorists might strike moscow again. experts say the government is

not doing enough to find a solution to the conflict. >> the kremlin talks a lot about the north caucasus, but it does not do much. they say they want to address the problems and deal with unemployment, make economic reforms, but hardly anything changes. >> this year, as every year, olga is marking the anniversary of the end of her ordeal. she says she is grateful she survived, but the fear something similar could happen again remains. >> how can a nation come to terms with a past that includes a dictator, torture, and political repression? >> can agents that have -- can nations that have these terrible chapters in, learn from each other? those were the questions in berlin. >> berlin hosted a conference for leaders from countries that

have been scarred by traumatic histories. and a dictatorship is one thing germany and many latin american countries have both experienced, and that was the subject of a symposium organized by germany's free democrats. in argentina, for instance, a military junta ran the country and persecuted leftist and political opponents, kidnapping, torturing, and murdering almost 30,000 people. decades later, its leaders are finally being tried for the crimes they committed. a court that sentenced -- a court sentenced the military dictator. >> in argentina, the majority opinion is that you cannot bring peace without memory, truth, and justice. if you try to rebuild society by forgetting what has happened, you are rebuilding on a falsehood. >> that applies to germany as

well. more than 20 years after reunification, the country is still processing the abuses of east germany's communist party. dissidents were spied on and off and imprisoned. now, germany wants to share experiences with latin americans. >> what we bring to the table is a concrete experience. there is no future if you do not address what happened in the past. that means you have to name the victims and on them, shed light on the atrocities in crimes, and after that, there has to be a healing process -- you have to name the victims and honor them, shed light on the atrocities and crimes. >> other lawmakers agree. to build a democracy, one must hold those responsible accountable for their actions and learn lessons of the past because society can only heal if justice is done. >> all right, time to update again. software maker windows has launched the latest version of

its desktop operating system. >> all that coming up in a moment, but first, a look at other stories making news. >> georgia has a new government after the country's parliament confirmed any billionaire -- a billionaire as the new prime minister. >> at least five people have been killed in sectarian violence in western burma. 80 more were injured in clashes between the buddhist majority and minority muslim group. thousands of muslims have fled the area and living in emergency camps. >> hurricane sandy has left a trail of destruction in cuba. the storm slammed the country with winds of up to 170 kilometers an hour. urologists warned the storm could cause significant damage along the east coast of the u.s. as he said, microsoft has unveiled the newest version of

its windows operating system. >> it is a radical redesign and will be microsoft posted first operating system to run on both desktop and tablet pc's. microsoft's boss steve ballmer shut up for the big announcement. microsoft is hoping to gain a foothold in the lucrative mobile internet maret. >> how will users react to the new design? we look now in our latest report. >> the launch of windows 8, microsoft's new operating system, is big news in the tech industry, featuring a completely new interface, which has surprised users. messages from social networks feature in the home page, and so the news updates. windows has been overhauled. can users at that? >> the new interface is certainly very cutting edge. it features a lot of innovations that users have to get used to. once you know how to use them,

they are really easy to operate. >> microsoft will spend up to $1 billion advertising windows 8. in recent years, apple had made gains in laptops and tablet computers. plus, sales of smartphones have exploded. windows 8 could change how much microsoft features in sales. >> you can now run the same programs on your smartphone, tablet, or pc using the same operating system. >> by it still faces one big hurdle -- people only buy smartphones and tablets that run a lot of apps, and for now, few apps are compatible with windows 8. >> that is the truth. finally, it is the most expensive film ever made in

germany, and it opened last night -- not in berlin but i los angeles. "cloud atlas," starring halle berry adn tom -- and tom hanks, who were both at the premiere. our correspondent takes us on a great journey. >> the film takes its audience on a fantastic journey that stretches over three continents and 500 years. "cloud atlas" is 65 stories in six different from us from -- different genres from period drama to science fiction. the play different roles transforming from the hero to

the villain and back again. a film this ambitious needed more than just one director. there were three. the sibling creators of the "matrix" films and a german director. together, they adapted david mitchell's novel, thought to be unfilmable. the producer or originally wanted to make the film together with a hollywood studio, but things turned out differently. >> the biggest problem we had was during the world wide economic crisis, and no studio wanted to make this film for $180 million or $200 million, so we came up with the idea of how we could finance it for about $100 million in the old- fashioned way we have developed in europe -- namely through co-

production and co-financing. >> to save money, the filmmakers shot everything in europe. my orchestra in for the pacific islands of the 19th century -- majorca stood in for the pacific islands. the future was shot near berlin. >> we have several sets running parallel to each other in this studio and in the studio next door, which is even bigger. there were many stories -- 6, in fact -- which were produced parallel to each other all in different genres with different sets. >> working in parallel this way also save money. >> we have proven now that with only a few people -- namely, with the best artists and technicians from the u.s. -- we

can, with a german and european crew, produce a film like this from start to finish. >> the box office willetermi whetheernyill produce moolwo-zefi"cloud atlas" hs rske wants to set off 6 stories for one ticket? i will be back at the top of the hour. tap